After undergoing systematic training under Yanrobei, Cold Cry gained a deeper understanding of Breathing Techniques. In his spare time, he refined his martial skills and organized them into seven distinct forms.
Ice Breathing, First Form: Cold Tide
As the name suggests, Cold Tide allows the user to release a large amount of cold air through controlled breathing, heightening their perception of the enemy's movements.
The resulting mist and scattered ice crystals obscure the opponent's vision. At the same time, the drop in temperature slows blood flow and reduces muscle responsiveness, weakening both the speed and power of incoming attacks.
Ice Breathing, Second Form: Drifting Snow
This form condenses cold air along the Nichirin blade. Combined with precise swordsmanship, it inflicts wounds that freeze instantly upon contact.
Against demons, this technique is particularly effective. It slows their regeneration, and the invading cold spreads through the wound, causing localized frostbite. Strikes aimed at joints can further restrict movement, effectively locking the enemy in place.
Ice Breathing, Third Form: Shattering Drizzle
By compressing cold air into sharp ice fragments, the user releases them in tandem with a sword swing, turning each strike into a ranged attack.
Like Drifting Snow, any successful hit freezes instantly upon impact, compounding damage and restricting the enemy's mobility.
Ice Breathing, Fourth Form: Icefall
Leaping from above, the user channels cold air into the blade and brings it down with overwhelming force, using gravity to amplify the strike.
If blocked, the blade releases a burst of freezing air that spreads across the opponent's body. If dodged, the impact with the ground triggers multiple rings of ice spikes, extending the attack range and forcing the enemy back.
Ice Breathing, Fifth Form: Swift Ice Thorn
This thrusting technique emphasizes speed and precision. By twisting the waist and driving the entire body forward, the user concentrates both strength and cold air at the blade's tip.
Cold Cry developed this form after observing Kanzaki Aoi's movements during sparring, adapting her speed into his own style.
In a previous encounter, he used a variation of this technique to drive a wooden stake into a demon's throat—buying himself precious time to escape.
Ice Breathing, Sixth Form: Phantom
This form focuses on movement rather than offense.
By controlling breathing to lighten the body and forming a thin layer of ice beneath the feet, friction with the ground is reduced to a minimum. The result is a sudden, ghost-like burst of speed.
While not inherently offensive, it pairs seamlessly with other forms.
A derivative technique, Fusion Art: Phantom Snowfall, combines Phantom with Drifting Snow, allowing Cold Cry to strike multiple times in an instant. In battle, this enabled him to embed several ice-laced projectiles into a demon's joints simultaneously.
Ice Breathing, Seventh Form: Icy Dragon Dance
By rapidly twisting his body and chaining multiple slashes together, Cold Cry builds momentum with each rotation.
The flowing trajectory of the blade resembles a spiraling ice dragon, each strike growing stronger than the last. This is currently his most powerful completed technique.
On the Nature of Ice Breathing
Ice Breathing is a derivative of Water Breathing, and traces of its origin can be seen throughout its forms.
Icefall resembles Water Breathing's Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin
Icy Dragon Dance mirrors Tenth Form: Constant Flux
However, where Water emphasizes fluid adaptability, Ice sacrifices some flexibility for control, restraint, and immobilization.
Prototype — Eighth Form: Thousand-Mile Freeze – True Gale
Cold Cry has conceptualized an eighth form.
This technique would release an overwhelming surge of cold air, freezing the surrounding area instantly. Using Phantom, he would then close the distance in a blink and decapitate the enemy.
Effective against both single and multiple targets, it remains incomplete. His current body cannot sustain such an output, and forcing it could be fatal.
For now, it exists only as a vision—waiting for the day his mastery catches up to his ambition.
Two Days Before Final Selection — Fujikasane Mountain
As dusk settled over the mountain, Kochou Shinobu, clad in her butterfly-patterned haori, walked quietly along a secluded forest path toward the White Dragon Pool.
A snow-white waterfall cascaded from over ten meters high, crashing into the pool below with a thunderous roar—like a descending dragon.
On a smooth bluestone by the water's edge lay a neatly folded set of coarse linen clothes.
Shinobu smiled faintly.
So this is where he enters and exits…
According to Yanrobei, Cold Cry should be finishing his training soon.
Stepping lightly across the stones, she crouched beside the pool, watching the surface with quiet amusement.
She was curious.
What kind of expression would he make upon seeing her here?
Moments later, a dark silhouette moved beneath the water.
There you are.
Cold Cry surfaced as usual—but the instant he looked up, he caught sight of a blurred figure on the bank.
Startled, he instinctively retreated.
At the same time, cold air surged outward. In an instant, a thin sheet of ice spread across the water's surface, creeping toward Shinobu's feet.
"Oh my… still this rude after two months?" Shinobu said lightly. "No improvement at all. How disappointing."
Recognizing her voice, Cold Cry's tension eased. The ice receded, dissolving back into the water as if pulled away by the tide.
Her sudden appearance left him conflicted—annoyed, yet oddly pleased.
And then there was the problem…
He was half-naked.
Without a word, Cold Cry dipped back underwater and moved toward the bank. He had expected Shinobu to politely avert her gaze.
She didn't.
Instead, she remained crouched there, watching him with an amused smile, completely unbothered.
Left with no choice, he emerged.
Though his heart stirred, his expression remained cold and distant.
"…Why are you here?"
Shinobu clasped her hands behind her back and leaned closer, studying his face—water droplets tracing down his pale skin.
"Do you have to act so distant?" she teased. "I thought we got along quite well before. Or are you still blaming me for not escorting you up the mountain… when you nearly died?"
Compared to the broken boy she had seen at the Butterfly Mansion, Cold Cry had changed.
His complexion was healthy, his gaze steady, and his body carried a quiet strength.
With his snow-white hair and sharp features, he looked almost unreal—
like something drawn from a painting.